


Mejor Juntos

by SchneiderAlvarez



Category: One Day at a Time (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Family Drama, Gen, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Post Season 3, schneider has a sister
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-12
Updated: 2019-04-11
Packaged: 2020-01-11 23:35:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18434438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SchneiderAlvarez/pseuds/SchneiderAlvarez
Summary: Schneider's half-sister comes to visit, and Penelope get's protective.





	Mejor Juntos

**Author's Note:**

> I know I have like 2 other WIP's to work on but... I've got a lot of ideas and I can only focus on one at a time. So... here ya go!

When Schneider tells the family that his half-sister is coming to town, Penelope can't help but feel a little concerned for him. After what happened with his father's visit, she doesn't think anyone can blame her. Schneider was basically an Alvarez now, and the Alvarezes were very protective of each other. He had only been sober again for a few months, and she didn't want anything triggering him into drinking again.

But Schneider insisted that his little sis was a lot more chill than their shared father. "I think you'd really like her, Pen." He had a certain twinkle in his eye as he talked about her, and Penelope couldn't find it within herself to say anything negative when he just looked so damn happy. It wasn't in his nature to hold back joy, and he was clearly ecstatic to see his sister again.

She was not convinced, though, because if his sister was really that great, why hadn't she ever come to visit before? Why hadn't Schneider ever gone to visit her?

In the three plus years she'd been living in his building, Schneider had never left for a holiday, a wedding, a funeral, or any other kind of family function. Not that she could blame him, because every story about his family was awful. Yet his sister was never even really mentioned. Until now. 

"Well we'll have to have her over for dinner, of course. I'm sure everyone wants to meet her." She tried to be positive, for Schneider's sake. Even if she didn't trust her, she could still be a gracious host. "Right, kids?"

"Is your sister hot?" Alex asked, looking up from his phone.

"Gross, Alex!" Elena smacked him on his shoulder. "But no, really, is she?"

Schneider made a face. "Yeah, I'm not going to answer that."

Penelope rolled her eyes. "They're just messing with you, Schneider. Everyone will be on their  _best behavior_ ," she directed a poignant stare at the two of them, "when she's here."

Elena stood up and gave Schneider a small pat on the back. "All joking aside, your family is our family, okay? As far as I'm concerned, she's another one of the  _tias_."

Now Schneider was beaming. "Thanks, guys."

Penelope was glad to see Schneider happy. He had been pretty down in the dumps ever since he and Avery broke up a second time, and he needed something like this to cheer him up. She was going to do whatever it took to make sure this was a good experience for him  _and_ his sister. 

But that didn't mean she couldn't be a little suspicious, too.

Later that night, once the kids were in bed and wouldn't walk in and find her snooping, Penelope looked Julia Schneider up on Facebook so she could learn a little about her. Unfortunately, unlike her brother Julia seemed to be a pretty private person, and all she found were a couple profile pictures and some liked pages. But discovering that she Liked Taylor Swift and Maroon 5 were things she already pretty much knew just from her picture. She was definitely pretty, and despite only being half-siblings, she could really see the resemblance between her and Schneider. The picture might have been old, but in it she had unnatural red hair up in a high bun, and the same bright blue eyes as her brother. She couldn't find links to any other social media other than a private Instagram account.

Deciding internet-stalking was not her forte, she admitted defeat and gave up looking. She had all but given up on finding  _anything_ out about the woman until she had a stroke of luck the next morning. 

" _Mami_ , why didn't you even tell me you met Schneider's sister? That's the sort of thing you tell people!"

Her mother waved her off. "It was a long time ago, when you were in the army. She was  _una niña_."

“How old was she?” Penelope could feel the _chismosa_ in her coming out as she leaned across the dining room table toward her mother, almost spilling her coffee in doing so. The kids were still asleep, and she had very little time to get details before either they or Schneider made their regular morning appearance.

“Younger than Elena, I’m not sure. Like I said, it was a _long_ time ago.” Lydia shrugged, leaning back in her chair. “I did not know Schneider much back then. He was just the landlord, so I didn’t pay much attention. It was probably… 15 years ago? Just about.”

“What was she like?”

“Quiet, polite. Like any good young girl should be. _Nothing_ like Elena.”

“ _Mami_.”

“Sorry. She came to visit him at some point, and I ran into her in the hall. It wasn’t much of anything, she had just gotten off on the wrong floor and she asked for some directions to Schneider’s.”

“I think he said she’s in her thirties now, so she must have been 15 or so,” Penelope bit the inside of her cheek. “I wonder why she stopped coming by?”

“Who cares why?” Lydia scoffed, and Penelope was surprised by the sudden sharpness in her mother's tone. “I do not care for his family. They do not care about him! That little _niña_ was the only one I ever saw come here to visit him before his father, and we know how that turned out.” For extra dramatics, she slammed the newspaper she had been holding down on the table and continued. “ _Ese pobrecito hombre tiene un padre, cinco madres y una hermana_. Yet I go to see him in rehab, and I am his only visitor. That is not _una_ _familia_. Those are relatives.”

Penelope couldn’t help but agree, though she had to admit that the whole conversation with her mother was only making her more nervous for Schneider. His father had been entirely dismissive of his sobriety, and there was no way to know if Julia was going to be the same way. "We need to keep an eye on him,  _Mami_. This can't end up like his father's visit. We need to be there for him."

"Don't worry,  _mija_. We will be."

* * *

 

On the day Julia was to arrive in LA, Schneider got a bit nervous.

Perhaps _a bit_ was underselling it. He got _really_ nervous.

He called Penelope a couple hours before her arrival time, and she could hear just over the phone that he was bouncing all over the walls over there.

"Schneider, you need to reel it in – like _all_ the way in,” was the first thing she said as she entered his apartment. Schneider was running around the apartment, picking things up and putting them back down, picking them up again, and so on. "Your sister is visiting, not the freakin’ Pope."

“The Pope would be an easier guest! Just introduce him to your mother and she’d keep him busy all week!”

“Technically we could do the same with your sister. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but _Mami_ is a lot for _anyone_.”

Schneider laughed in agreement, and Penelope was relieved to see that her presence did calm him down a bit. He left the lamp he was holding on the table where he found it and let out a long sigh. "I know, _I know_. I just... Julia hasn't been here since I've been sober. Or, was sober, then wasn't, and now am again." He shook his head, an all too familiar look of regret in his eyes. "It’s been over ten years, Pen. I just want to make a good impression."

Penelope motioned for him to follow her the couch. He did as he was silently told, and the two settled down beside each other. "Do you guys ever talk? I mean, a decade is a long time to not see someone."

"We call each other on our birthday’s, but we don't really talk about anything important. It's more of a, _hey, you're still alive? alright good, talk to ya next year_ , kind of thing." Schneider instinctively reached out his hand, and Penelope took it with both of hers. 

"Even if you don't talk, she's still your sister. I'm sure she loves you, just as much as you love her." She paused. "You do love her, right?"

"Of course!"

"Well then she loves you too. Besides, you've grown _so much_ in the last 10 years! Trust me, I wasn't exactly your biggest fan 10 years ago, either. But you're a changed man - a _good_ man. She's going to be so proud of you - just like I am. Just like _all_ of us are."

Schneider smiled gratefully at her, but he didn't look entirely convinced. But then, just as she was hoping for, he started to open up about her. "She's eight years younger than me. Her mother is my _first_ step mother." He held out his hand in the universal _eh_ sign. "Not my favorite step mother. In the top three though, for sure." Penelope snorted, but let it slide without comment. "She was such a cute kid. Always so upbeat and confident. Alex reminds me of her a bit, actually."

He stared off into the distance, smiling fondly at whatever memory was playing in his head. She wanted to ask what he was thinking about – she felt like she never got to hear any happy child-Schneider memories, and she was interested in hearing them. But then he started to talk again, and, as she expected, it got a little darker.

"She only lived with us for four years, before the divorce. But we were each other's only siblings, so we would still see each other every once in a while. She _loved_ me, she really did. Kids usually do, I guess." He laughed, but it sounded hollow. Penelope squeezed his hand in support. "But, by the time she was old enough to really, you know, really remember stuff, I was already drinking. So… I remember a lot of happy times with her, but, I doubt she can say the same.”

Penelope frowned. Schneider's relapse had really opened her eyes to how hard sobriety had been on him. It was stupid, because she knew from experience how difficult addiction could be. She had seen it all, up close and personal, with Victor. His addictions and mental health issues had torn apart their marriage and put his whole life on pause for a very long time. Yet in her mind Schneider was always different. It felt like he had always been sober. Like he had always been okay. Until he wasn't. Schneider had been her rock for a long time, and it was hard to reconcile the image of him in her mind with the reality of his illness. 

His relapse changed that, however, so it wasn't really surprising to hear about how Schneider's life had been toppled just like her and Victor's.

"When I moved to America she was devastated. And, I mean, so was I. So I promised to fly her out to see me all the time. But then, of course, after my first time in rehab, her mother didn't trust me with her, and that became harder and harder to do. And then the second time happened, and she flat out refused to send her over. I didn’t really get to see her at all until she turned 18 and she came to see me herself." He paused, gripping Penelope's hand even tighter. "I tried _so_ hard to be clean whenever she came down. It took... everything I had, but I did it. She was always so worried about me, and I didn't want her to know what a hard time I was having. Over the phone I always told her about all the cool things I was doing the in U.S., but in reality, I was just high all the time. I don’t even remember most of it. She didn't even know about the harder stuff at all - just the alcohol."

"That must have been hard, dealing with that all on your own."

Schneider shrugged. "It was what it was. I thought I could beat it on my own, you know? I thought I could drink in moderation, watch myself, and it would all be fine. But it wasn't. And eventually I slipped up. Because... of course I did. It was just… always going to happen. I couldn't stop myself and I ended up drinking way too much at dinner. Then when we went home, and she went to bed, and I did a little coke. It wasn’t even that much, but it must have been laced with something else, because I don't really remember anything else after that. But... then, I..." His voice trailed off.

Penelope reached up to brush the hair out of his face. He barely reacted at all to her gesture, like he didn’t even notice she was there anymore. Yet again he was stuck in a memory, but this one was not nearly as happy. “Schneider,” she whispered gently in his ear. "You don't have to tell me. It's okay. It’s okay." She stroked his cheek with the back of her hand, and that seemed to bring him back to reality.

“No, it’s fine,” he finally answered, his voice cracking ever so slightly. "I don't really remember all that happened, but I know that I OD'd. I almost died in this apartment, and the only reason I didn't is because she was here, and she found me. I woke up in the hospital a couple days later and she was already long gone. The nurse said she had been there when I was admitted, but she left immediately after. Then it was off to rehab #3 for me, and she wouldn’t return any of my calls. Not that I blame her. It took her years to even talk to me again, and I'm pretty sure her mother is the one that finally convinced her to.” Schneider shook his head. “We never even talked about it. She didn’t mention it and I… I couldn’t. I couldn’t do it… And now she's coming here! To this apartment! After yet another relapse. And I... I just want her to see that things are different now. That _I’m_ different."

He wiped the tears that had formed away from his eyes and leaned backwards into the couch cushion. Penelope leaned back with him, laying her head on his shoulder. She knew her instincts were right, this visit was definitely putting him in danger of another relapse, but she wasn’t about to let that happen. "You _are_ different. You're better than you were back then. And we're going to make sure she sees that. We're gonna make sure she sees what a wonderful man you've become. She's going to get to see your building, and how much time and care you’ve put into it. She's going to see your family, and how much we love you. How much we depend on you. How much we _need_ you. And if that doesn't convince her that you’ve changed, then I don't know what will."

Schneider looked down at her, his eyes wide and still wet. Anytime she tried to compliment him, he always looked like he didn't quite believe it. He always had this look on his face that read _grateful, but not convinced_. This seemed to be no different, and she wished she could prove to him just how much she meant it.

"Thank you, Pen."

"I mean it... _Pat_."

They both grinned at the use of his first name. "Okay, that's kind of gross to hear coming from you; let's stick with Schneider. But it _is_ what Julia's going to call me, so I guess it's fitting."

Penelope sat back up, patting his leg. "Well, come on, now. I didn't come up here to sit around. Let's make this place look nice for your sister.”


End file.
